As the good weather continues, though fortunately with a little added freshness after those uncomfortable baking hot days, we can still enjoy the benefits of alfresco eating, or at least enjoy dinner with the windows open.

It’s been rather novel to make plans for weekend barbecues without having to make alternative contingency plans as one would normally do.

The coals are lit, the drinks chilled, and 99.9 per cent of the time, it all goes swimmingly.

I may grumble about the lack of rain for my garden, but I’ll definitely miss it when January comes around and it’s chucking it down for days on end.

Whatever your opinions on climate change (and I reckon the last six months of global weather will have demonstrated unambiguously that something’s definitely up) it’s certainly an interesting time for we weatherwatchers.

I just feel for those who devote their lives and careers to growing plants for food – these unpredictable days must be a nightmare for them, worrying about drought one minute and flooding the next.

It’s worth thinking about farmers and growers once in a while, as we generally consume their produce without giving it a moment’s thought, all that careful planning, hard work and occasional disaster.

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So, to our recipe this week, which makes the most of some great ingredients that are in top form at the moment, namely sweetcorn, salads and tomatoes.

My wife, Tracy, had made us a salad a few weeks ago that she’d seen in some magazine or other, which involved the use of popcorn.

As I walked into the kitchen and heard the bag popping loudly in the microwave I thought I was being treated to an afternoon movie with requisite snacks, but was told it was to be part of a new supper idea.

Well, it was a revelation – the popcorn is crunchy and soggy all at once, soaking in dressing yet remaining partly crisp, which adds a whole new exciting dimension to a salad, and it got me planning my own version which I’m sharing here.

I wanted to use fresh corn as well, so a few cobs of corn were first poached and then cooked over open flames to get a nice tasty charred effect.

To this we add the crunch of lettuces, the bitter twang of chicory leaves, the pop and juice of baby tomatoes and then a subtle note added by wedges of avocado and blobs of fresh, creamy soft ricotta cheese.

Dress this with a lemony vinaigrette and you’re good to go, but as I was planning the salad, I thought of the word ‘popcorn’ and immediately thought of ‘popcorn shrimp’, that classic American fast food snack.

Crunchy, deep-fried prawns would be a little obtrusive in such a delicate salad, I thought, but I liked the idea of sweet seafood working with the corn and tomatoes, so I just made a quick sweet chili coating for fresh tiger prawns and sizzled them in a hot oven before strewing them over the finished salad.